Thirty-eight Texas House Democrats have signed on to a letter by Harris County Democratic House member Jon Rosenthal, asking for a special session to address public education funding.
School funding has been stagnant since 2019. Rosenthal says as a result, schools are having major budget crisis and will have to layoff staffers.
"I'm hearing from school districts across the state that we're going to have hundreds of layoffs in many of the large districts and thousands across the state unless we do something about this."
Their first ask is an increase of a thousand dollars in the basic allotment. That's what the state pays each school per student per year.
"We want more than just treading water, but a thousand dollars per child would be a good start to account for inflation."
The legislature in the last session handed down mandates around school safety, but he says did not give any money for that. Rosenthal wants those funds to go to schoolsy.
The state has a budget surplus over more than 18 billion dollars. Governor Abbott has tied funding for public education to school choice, but the House blocked vouchers. Rosenthal does not believe Abbott will act on his letter.
The Houston ISD has released who Rosenthal calls some of the best principals in the district.
"We have a 130 plus million dollar budget shortfall in CyFair, which has the advantage of being able to pass large bonds. Katy ISD is tens of millions of dollars in the hole"
He says Texas has the money and should spend it.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Tell your Smart Speaker to "PLAY 1080 KRLD"
Sign Up to receive our KRLD Insider Newsletter for more news
Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
